


10 Things

by MugenYumeDansu



Series: Genderswap Reno [1]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Character admiration, Dirty Thoughts, Elena is homicidal, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Gen, Genderswap, Humor, I CAN'T BELIEVE ITS FINALLY FINISHED!!, Like so sweet I need a dentist, NOT a lemon, No pun intended, Pensive!Rude, Pining, Pre-Relationship, Randomness, Rated Teen for some content, Reno and Rude can still be innocent, Reno better run like hell, Reno is a prankster, Reno-ness, Rude is a BAMF, Rude takes care of Reno no matter what, Rude to the rescue, Rude-ness, Smitten!Rude, Stargazing, Sweetness, Those cute little intense moments you love so much, Tseng is staying out of this, Turks on Assignment, cuteness, fem!Reno, lots of humor, oblivious!Reno, relationship building, shy!Reno, shy!Rude, sick!Reno, sorryI'mnotsorry, sweet!Rude
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-18
Updated: 2017-04-14
Packaged: 2018-01-01 23:49:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 6,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1050046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MugenYumeDansu/pseuds/MugenYumeDansu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>10 different semi-drabble and fluff scenes between Reno and Rude.</p><p>Pre-relationship</p><p>Genderswap; female!Reno--Because I like it that way! ;D</p><p>Disclaimer: I do not own FF7, or any of its content or characters.<br/>I do however, like to twist them into various humorous, uncomfortable, or very sexy situations.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pink

**Author's Note:**

> Uploads whenever I can put them up, because my computer is a pouting, argumentative, cantankerous, irritable old woman, who does what she wants, when she wants...  
> But I love her dearly anyway. :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reno gets into trouble. As usual.

** Pink **

Tuesday morning at ShinRa was usually pretty uneventful, save the occasional mission assignment squabbles. Usually. That is, unless a certain redhead with a lack of any sense of self-preservation got the idea to do something stupid.

The flash of crimson that shot past him nearly made Rude drop his coffee. As it was, a little of the steaming dark-amber liquid splashed out of the styrofoam cup, onto his hand.

Hissing in irritation from the sting of nearly boiling-point coffee splattering his sensative skin, he wiped at it with his jacket sleeve. Rude turned and watched with narrowed eyes as a very panicked looking Reno shot out of sight around a corner, nearly slamming into the wall as she did so. Well, it would be more accurate to say he watched her ass shoot out of sight. Though he should probably not admit that. To anyone. Ever.

Rude stood there for a confused second, wondering what --who-- the hell Reno was running from. Knowing the redhead it could be anyone. She had a bad habit of playing pranks on the wrong people. Especially the First Class Soldiers. Who usually attempted murder in return for their shampoo being replaced by hair removal cream, or itching powder being spread all over their bedsheets, causing them to wake up scratching.

Rude chuckled at that last one. Angeal had nearly burst a blood vessel on finding out that it was Reno who'd pulled that one on both him and Zack. Though in Reno's defence, she didn't know Zack had a severe allergy to one of the chemicals used in making the irritant. Reno had still spent a week in the Infirmary for it though.

Shaking his head to clear away the thought, Rude turned on his heel to head into his office, deciding to ignore his curiousity. No sooner than he turned though, he got his answer--catching sight of Elena stalking down the hall.

Normally, catching sight of the determined stalk of the short blond woman wasn't anything out of the ordinary (Elena having a bad case of short, cute, and female—none of which lent itself to an air of someone to be taken seriously—which she often overcompensated for in the form of an impeccibal wardrobe, a gaze that could frost the dick off of a man at thirty-paces, and the walking pace of someone as tall as Rude) but for the fact that her hair…--Rude did a lightening quick double-take-- was now the brightest shade of pink Rude had ever had the displeasure of seeing.

With the feeling of his testicles shriveling unpleasantly into his body, Rude had never been more grateful of his habitual pair of sunglasses. He knew his eyes were the size of dinnerplates behind them.

Still, none of his training did anything to help his hand—Styrofoam crushing like eggshells in his grip as Elena looked at him. He didn't even register the pain of scalding-hot coffee cascading over his skin.

"Reno—" The word torn from between Elena's teeth, jagged and enraged and promising painful retribution if Rude failed to comply with her demands. For a second, Rude considered shouting, "ShinRa doesn't negotiate with terrorists!" and following Reno's sprint down the hallway—but no. Elena was too close, to fast (even in her ridiculously high-heels) for Rude to make it.

Rude swallowed thickly before cleared his throat. He lifted the hand not holding his crushed coffee cup and gestured shortly down the hall with his thumb, giving up his partner like the sacrificial fox that she was.

With a venomous look promising that she would return and eviscerate him, should his intel prove untrustworthy, Elena took off toward the corner Reno had disappeared around.

Rude watched her go, eyes locked on her now vibrantly colored hair—slowly, his balls descended, sensing that the danger had passed, glad that they had survived intact.

One thought went through his head; 'Reno…is a dead woman.'

Manfully, he retreated through his office door, to mop up his slightly burnt hand and hide. Minutes later, the shrill screaming that echoed down the ShinRa hallway was no surprise. At all.

**_  
_**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise!!! Gen-swap, Reno is a girl, because I like it that way. ;)  
> Rated T for later content.  
> 10 drabbles involving Rude and Reno. And maybe some uncharacteristic feelings...Hehe... ONWARD!


	2. Legs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rude muse about Reno's legs...

**Legs**

The radio was blaring some old, Pre-Reform rock that Rude didn't know the name of, and the floor was littered with alchohol bottles and other debris from Shiva-knew what kind of partying and other...dubious activities had most likely taken place here.

Reno lay across the tattered brown and blue couch, mostly-bare legs draped over the back, head lolling off the cushions. Her head swayed to the tune of tinny, static-washed music while her fingers idly picked at the hem of her black tank. Her workpants had been messily rolled up, and she had shed her wrinkled button-up hours before, when the heat really started rolling in.

Rude hated Coral, hated the fact that all of ShinRa Senior's whores couldn't have come from someplace that the air didn't stick in Rude's lungs or smother over his face like a wet blanket, and he hated that they were stuck there, in a tiny, shitty room across the street from the Madam's house, where the central cooling had failed mere hours into the assignment.

Not that Rude didn't like being a Turk, no, just that the sex-watching assignments were boring as—well, Rude decided he just wasn't going to go there, even as his stomach was going numb from the fact that he'd been laying at this particular window for several hours by now. His shoulder was beginning to ache from the stock of his rifle, and Rude just knew that he was going to have a scope-ring around his eye when this was over.

Quietly, he watched the forms moving through the windows across the street with one eye, the other on Reno. His shades were discarded, and, like Reno, he had lost most of his suit hours before—stripped to an undershirt and his pants, still sweating like a dog.

In the low light, ShinRa Senior getting it on across the street, his own head beginning to ache with the beginning of a caffeine-induced migraine, Rude found his attention drawn to Reno's dangling legs.

Unlike her face and chest (which were beginning to splotch red from the rush of blood), Reno's legs were beginning to grow pale as she curled upside-down on the worn couch. Not that they weren't pale to begin with, Rude thought, just that they were starting to grow alarmingly white as they kicked lightly against the wall. In the late-afternoon glow, Reno's legs were like paper, spotted with shiny scar-tissue from her life in the Slums.

Skinny and long, they carried the same stretched quality that the rest of Reno sported—like they had gone too long without food or care, like she had hit a growth spurt but had never had enough fat on her bones to give her the breasts or hips that she should have had.

Still, they looked soft, even corded with lean muscle and scarred, and Rude had an insane urge to reach out and touch them—to run his fingers along the curve of Reno's inproportionally-bulky calf, to feel the muscle jump and twitch beneath his hand.

Rude wanted to see if they were as powerful as they looked, as corded, as smooth.

Distractedly, Rude's eye followed the line of Reno's leg, up to her boyish hips and abs, and further, to her red-neck and flushed cheeks, her eyes half-lidded as she listened to her blood rush behind her ears.

With a huff of silent laughter, Rude left her to it, turning his eyes back across the street. And if anyone saw the flush in his cheeks, he could blame it on the heat.

  
(After all, losing a few more brain cells couldn't hurt Reno very much…right?)

  
On second thought…

  
_  
_


	3. 3 AM

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rude gets a late night (...er...early morning?) visitor...

**3 AM**

As a rule, Rude never complained when Reno called him at 0300 to drunkenly ramble to him about anything and everything—just to keep the roaring in her head to a minimum. Rude looked at it like this—a saner Reno was better for everyone involved (especially him) and if letting her listen to his breathing while she talked helped, so be it. It wasn't like she needed him to talk back or anything, and it wasn't like she ever shut-up at work, so. (Let no one ever think that 'comm-silence' had any place in Reno's personal dictionary.)

  
Still. It was an entirely different thing when she actually showed up at his door.

  
In fact, Rude almost shot her the first time, when he heard the tell-tale scratching at the door that said someone was trying to pick his lock. (Thankfully, his ShinRa-Issued apartment was little more than one room, all open-space around the kitchenette and what could barely be considered a bathroom through the only other door.)

  
So, like a sane person, Rude opened the door, ready and willing to shoot someone as the criminal came tumbling inside (thrown off-balance when Rude jerked open the door with a bang, standing off to the side and gun at-level to shoot someone kneeling.)

  
Then, like a crazy person, Rude felt his finger flick back on the safety—the back of his mind recognizing the shadowed form that sprawled across his floor.

  
Reno.

  
The front of his mind, still buzzing with adrenaline, let the back-side win, and pull Reno to her feet with his free hand, his heel kicking shut his door. He didn't bother re-locking it.

He sighed.

  
She smelled like stale-sweat, like concrete and booze and sex, and her hands were trembling. In the dark, Rude couldn't see much else, and he found he didn't fucking care to.

  
Reno squawked.

  
"Ah! Rude! My man! My main-squeeze—" she laughed, high-pitched and frantic as Rude pulled her further inside. Reno could see her eyes were unnaturally wide, and somewhat panicked in the low lights.

  
Rude didn't care—his brain already shutting back down now that he knew it was just Reno, the crazy bitch.

  
"Bed," Rude grunted, hauling the woman the measly five-steps it took to get to his bunk.

  
The you-fucking-crazy-fool went unsaid, as Rude shoved Reno at the mattress, dropping his service-piece onto his crappy night-stand.

  
"Naw, man, I was just looking for a place to crash... I lost my key—" The last was little more than a squeak as she was pushed onto the bed. Reno scrambled, trying to wiggle off of the bed, but Rude wasn't feeling charitable—he shoved her back, hard enough that she hit her head on the wall and whined, noisy and indignant, her hand coming up to rub at her dirty hair.

"Don't care." He dropped himself to the mattress, bouncing next to Reno in an uncomfortable moment of elbows-hands-knees-what-the-fuck-Reno-is-that-a-fucking-machete before he got her restrained, trapped under his arm, the wall at her back and her chin digging into his shoulder.

Rude realised she was wearing nothing but a flimsy tanktop and a skirt that rode a little too low on the swell of her still-too-narrow hips, and a pair of knee-high boots, but he didn't care.

All he wanted to do was sleep—he could deal with Reno in the morning, if she hadn't weaseled out before then.  
Around them, the apartment quieted, Reno's breathing smoothing into a slightly slower rhythm, her fingers tapping out a beat against his ribs.

  
Her hair was greasy against his cheek, and her breath smelled like beer when she said, wonderingly, her fingers pulling at a hole worn into the hem of his t-shirt, "You know, I honestly didn't think it was possible for you to talk less--"

She cut off with a yelp, Rude's fingers digging into the soft skin under her arm and twisting—a silent shut-the-fuck-up-and-go-the-fuck-to-sleep that had her stuttered on a laugh.

She settled, against his side, and Rude hummed a tuneless something-or-another slowly, low in his throat until he felt Reno's heart-beat quiet and her fingers fell still.

She slept.

And Rude let her.

And the next morning when he woke up covered in muti-colored glitter, with Reno snoring in his ear, her unruly hair in his face, and one of her stiletto boots digging into his shin, he didn't even complain.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All I can say is awwwe, I wrote this?  
> T^T


	4. Panic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rude saves Reno from a "horrible scary monster."  
> Well, actually Elena does the saving...

**Panic**

"RUDE!" The scream echoed through the entire floor that was relegated to the Turks, of the ShinRa building. Rude nearly didn't recognise his own name, the scream was so shrill. It was coming from Reno's office, down the hall. Panic spiked through Rude and he nearly vaulted over the desk in an attept to see what was threatening his partner.

He burst through the door to the redhead's office, nearly ripping the door off of its hinges.

And stopped short, confusion clouding his thoughts upon seeing Reno, not in danger at all, but standing on her office chair, staring intently at something on her desk, shaking like a leaf. The only thing really out of place at all, besides Reno herself, was the spilled coffee mug on the carpet beside the desk.

"Rude kill it!" Reno shrieked, seeing Rude standing there, bewildered.

Rude glanced at where the hysterical Reno was still staring.

A tiny black speck moved slowly across a stack of paperwork. Rude watched the spider, incredulously. Looking back up at his partner he raised an eyebrow. He relaxed and shifted his stance from tense and ready to attack. His shoulders dropped and he shook his head, more annoyed than anything, now that the panic was over.

"Reno, its a spider." Rude deadpanned, pinching the bridge of his nose in an attempt to quell the headache that was quickly developing.

"Just get rid of it! Please!" Reno snapped, looking for all the world, like an idiot. Rude really didn't have time for this. He had his own stack of paperwork to do.

"Do it yourself." Rude let his irritation show in his voice.

"Ru-ude!" Reno whined. Rude ignored her. He turned to leave, and jumped a little. Reno's screeching had attracted an audience. Two of the new recruits, Tseng, and Elena were standing there.

Tseng looked exasperated, the recruits were laughing, but Elena looked annoyed. Before anyone had more than a few seconds to respond, including Rude, Elena stalked up to the desk, slammed her hand down on the poor, innocent arachnid, wiped her hand on the edge of Reno's desk, and stalked out again. She never uttered a sound.

Nobody moved, not even Tseng. Reno simply blinked, not expecting the response she'd gotten.

A second later Tseng was ushering the recruits away, and Rude cleared his throat, shaking his shock away, and headed back to his own office, determined to forget that this had ever happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hehe, yeah, I went there. Gotta love Elena's no-nonsense attitude.
> 
> I'm evil >:D


	5. Gluttony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reno does something very much like her...

**Gluttony**

"Urrrgh..."

The groan that slipped out from behind the office door acros the hall made Rude's ears perk up. He wondered offhandedly what Reno could be up to that brought that particularly pitiful sound from her.

And then his head snapped up, and he shook away the thought, deciding he was definitely not curious after the last time. There were just some things in this world that could never be un-seen, and Reno seemed rather adept at finding the most disturbing of them and causing immeasurable amounts of mental anguish, by finding some under-handed way to get her co-workers to view said disturbing things at the most inopportune times. In fact, the red-head seemed to delight in doing so.

No, Rude was not even close to curious.

"Urrrrrgh..." The pitiful noise came again, nearly making Rude's resolve crumble. A whisper of concern fluttered in the back of his mind.

He shook it off and turned back to his computer screen, and began typing once more. He got about three more paragraphs in his report before the pathetic noise came again. Rude sighed and looked up.

Just then a knock came on his doorframe, and Elena's head poked around the corner. She smiled weakly and made her way up to Rude's desk, a small manilla folder clutched in front of her.

Rude tilted his head and raised an eyebrow in silent question.

"Report from the last mission." She explained. Her head turned as she handed the folder to Rude. Her eyes were locked on Reno's office door. The horrid sound came again, accompanied by a muffled noise and a very distict thump. Both Elena's and Rude's eyebrows shot up, and Rude sighed, resigning himself to his fate.

"I'll check on her." He intoned in an unnamused timbre. Elena nooded shortly and took off back to her own office door. Rude slid the report he'd redieved from Elena onto the small stack at the right corner of his desk, and pushed his chair back, irritation ingraining itself across his usually unreadable face.

He padded quietly out his door and across the narrow hallway, several scenarios flicked through his thoughts, each one more disturbing and ridiculous than the last. He shook the thoughts from his head and paused outside his partner's ffice door. As he raised his hand to knock he noticed Tseng peeking over the top of his computer screen through his open office door at the end of the hall. Rude met Tseng's eyes over the top of his customary shades, and Tseng gave his subordinate the affirmative. Rude looked back to the closed door in front of him and knocked firmly.

A low relpy came in the form of an unintelligable murmur. He opened the door without further ceremony and peeked cautiously in at his partner. And nearly doubled over in laughter.

A huge takeout container sat open on the edge of Reno's desk, and two more were discarded in the trashcan (that always seemed overflowing, no matter how many times the custodial depatment came by) and Reno herself lay slumped over her keyboard, looking very green.

She looked up at Rude, and her brows furrowed. She let out another pitiful sounding groan and poked her bottom lip out at Rude.

"I ate too much..." Her very somber explanation for why she looked so miserable made Rude shake his head and chuckle at her.

"Idiot." He smiled when she stuck her tongue out at him for his comment.


	6. Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reno's sick, and Rude is worried. So he goes to check on her and ends up in a precarious situation.

**Comfort**

Reno had been sick for the last three days. She'd missed work, and an assignment, and Rude was getting worried. As lazy as she could be, Reno never, never missed an assignment. She enjoyed them too much. (Most of the time.)

She hardly ever got sick either, thanks to the genetic enhancements every Turk underwent. So whatever is was Reno had come down with, it had to be pretty bad.

Rude's worry, fueled by that particular thought, goaded him into blowing off work that morning, and instead heading straight for Reno's apartment building.

Not even bothering to knock, knowing Reno would probably not be in a state to answer, he picked the lock instead. He didn't care how he looked, stooping to fiddle with the lockpick. Seeing as Reno's apartment was in a run-down part of sector 7, nobody really cared whether or not an apartment was being broken into and/or burgaled, as long as they weren't bothered by it.

The lock clicked open and Rude opened the door as quietly as possible and slipped inside, closing the door behind him.

Reno's tiny apartment mirrored his own, in that it was practically a single room, with a kitchenette area in the front, with the back half being taken up with a bed shoved against one wall, a tiny nightstand with an equally tiny television sitting on it, angled toward the bed, and a small doorless closet set into the wall across from the bed, next to the only door other than the front, which accounted for a bathroom.

 He glanced at the mess of sheets and pillows that made up the twin bed. Reno wasn't occupying it at the moment, so Rude made his way through the cluttered room, headed for the unopened bathroom door, not even bothering to glance around at the rest. He attempted to listen quietly at the door, resting one hand on the doorknob lightly, thinking that since Reno wasn't in the common area, that she must be in the bathroom. 

He had just settled his ear next to the thin wooden barrier when the door knob was jerked from his fingers and an electro-mag rod nearly connected with his head. Had he not jerked backward, battlefield reflexes kicking in hard and fast, he would most likely be a crumpled heap on Reno's floor.

And then, just as the EMR started its second arc toward Rude, Reno realised exactly who had snuck into her apartment.

"Rude?" She queried, EMR stopping mid-swing as her instincts shut down the fight at the recognition of her partner. "What are you doing here?" The last being said with an air of confusion. Rude relaxed from his combat stance and straightened up, re-adjusting his glasses as he took in Reno's appearance.

Her wild red spikes were more disheveled than usual, looking somewhat flattened on one side, with fly-aways going in every direction giving her an almost firey halo in the light from her bedroom window. Her eyes seemed sunken in, with dark bruised-looking bags under them. Her skin was paler than usual as well. She was wearing green and black plaid flannel pajama pants that looked three sizes too big and hung off of her hips, and what looked to be...wait, was that his shirt?

Rude quirked an eyebrow. He was concerned by her appearance, and a bit confused about the fact that she seemed to be wearing an article of his clothing, but he didn't question it.

"You missed an assignment." He supplied, stepping back as Reno brushed her way past, heading for the bed.

"Oh... Yeah, sorry 'bout that." She mumbled, dropping onto the matress unceremoniously and pulling the worn comforter around her middle. "M'fine, so you can go tell the director I'm alive."

"The Director didn't send me." Rude stated, adjusting his shades with a finger and debating whether or not to sit somewhere. Finally he took two steps into the kitchen area and grabbed the chair that was tucked under the small table, spinning it around backwards and sitting down, legs spread wide, arms resting across the chair back.

"So why're you here then?" Reno asked, reaching up to rub her temples, and grimacing. Rude shrugged. Right about then Reno groaned and curled in on herself, wrapping her arms around her middle. Rude's heart sped up and he barely kept himself from jumping up and moving to the redhead's side.

"Reno?" He bit out, more an order than a question. Reno knew he was demanding she tell him what was wrong.

"S'nothin' Rude." She uncurled a bit after a few seconds, "Nothing you could do anything about anyway." Rude pinned her with his eyes. He got his unasked-for answer when her eyes shot up to meet his, then slid away, her cheeks coloring swiftly. Rude's eyes widened and he felt himself blush as well as it hit him. She wasn't sick. She wasn't hurt. She was just on her period. Hence her doubling up in pain; cramps...

"Oh..." came Rude's witty response. He really wasn't prepared for this. They both sat there akwardly for several seconds before Reno broke the silence.

"Rude... Could you do me a favor?"

 

* * *

__

Rude shuffled the shopping bag from one hand to the other as he opened Reno's apartment door and stepped inside.

He had just returned from the small drugstore down the block, where Reno had sent him in search of menstrual supplies and a narcotic, which was apparently the only thing that eased Reno's intense cramps and allowed her to get any rest.

He'd taken one look at her state and decided it was worth the blow to his dignity. His partner was in a lot of pain, and was asking him for help, when she would rather not even have him know what she was going through. He figured it was worth his partner's health to suffer the embarrassment of buying her... girly things. He'd decided he was going to take care of her and make sure she got better. Especially if her period had hit her hard enough that she couldn't come in to work.

Rude moved into the room, putting the bag on Reno's kitchen table and stepping over to the sink. He pulled a glass out of the cabinet and filled it with water. He returned to the bag and dug the bottle of pain pills from its box and carried it over to the bed, where Reno was curled up under the blanket, attempting to stave off the cramps as best she could. Rude held the glass and the bottle out to her. Slowly she sat up and opened the bottle, downing two pills and half the glass.

Satisfied that Reno had the painkillers in her system, he headed back to the kitchen, and the bag he'd left there. He pulled a hot water bottle from the bag and set to rumaging through the cabinets for a coffee mug. He filled the plain black one he found with water and popped it into the small microwave that was tucked into a corner of the counter, next to Reno's beat up old coffee maker. Setting the microwave on two minutes, Rude turned back to check on Reno. She was sitting up against the wall watching what he was doing, an unreadable look on her face.

When the microwave beeped, Rude pulled the mug out and poured the steaming contents into the hot watter bottle, refilled it and put it back in the microwave for another two minutes. It was right about then that Reno's curiosity became too much.

"What are you doing?" She asked, brow furrowing as she watched her partner putter around her kitchen. Rude didn't answer, just watched the microwave until it beeped, then poured the second cup of water into the hot water bottle and screwed on the cap. He came over to the side of the bed and sat down. Reno's eyes widened as Rude pulled the blanket back and placed the rubber contraption against her stomach.

And then Reno practically moaned as the heat began to seep into her skin and relax her cramped muscles. Her eyes slid closed and her head lolled back against the wall as sweet relief washed through her. She didn't see the look on Rude's face as he made a split-second descision. She missed the moment he started removing his suit jacket and set his trademark sunglasses on the nightstand. He shed his shoes and tie, setting them over the back of her kitchen chair. She did, however, notice the bed dip as he climbed in beside her. Her eyes shot open as he pulled her down into a lying position and began arranging the blankets around her before laying an arm over her side, holding the hot water bottle firmly to her stomach.

"Rude? What the hell are you doing?" Reno's voice rose an octave as her heart tried to leap out of her chest. Rude wasn't quite sure what had possessed him to climb into bed with the redhead himself, but he knew as soon as he was there, that it was right. Reno needed to be taken care of, and Rude was going to do just that.

"I'm playing bodyguard, now go to sleep." His reply was a little gruff, and his actions where completely out of character for him, but Reno was too exhausted, slowly beginning to sucumb to the narcotic painkiller, and too caught up in the relief she had finally found to question him about it. Instead she relaxed into his hold and let herself drift into the first pleasant sleep she'd gotten in three days...

_**  
**_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awe, fluff. Cute!! Who doesn't want a man willing to do stuff like this for them during their time of the month?  
> ;) Absolutely pleased as punch with how this chap turned out.


	7. Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little stargazing after work.

**Stars**

 

Rude loosened his tie and stepped out onto the balcony, hoping for some fresh air after a long day stuck in the office with piles of paperwork. His attention was immediately drawn to the figure leaning against the railing in front of him.

Reno stood, arms braced on the banister, weight held by one leg while the other was crossed in front of it, her gaze fixed on the sky. At first Rude wasn't sure if Reno had seen him or not, and he felt a little unsure, as though he was intruding on something. Then Reno glanced back over her shoulder, eyes locking on his, and her mouth quirked up into a half smile. After a beat she turned back to watching the night sky.

Rude relaxed, knowing he was welcome by the small acknowledgement. He stepped up to the railing and settled a hand against it, following his partner's gaze. The sky was dark, nearly black at this altitude, despite the light pollution from the city below. A blanket of twinkling stars spread out across the sky above. It was breathtaking. Every star seemed to be competing with the others to be brightest.

Rude stood, watching the stars in silence for several long moments, the tension of the day dissipating as he got caught up in picking out different constellations he recognized. He almost jumped when Reno spoke. If he hadn't been a Turk he probably would have.

"Its amazing how bright they are tonight." Reno intoned softly. Rude looked over at her. And lost his breathe for a heartbeat.

Reno had her arms crossed in front of her, nearly burnt out cigarette dangling from her fingertips, eyes fixed on the sky. She was completely relaxed and unguarded, an unreadable look on her face. Her skin was smooth and flawless, not a wrinkle or laugh line in sight, and it seemed to glow in the starlight. Her bright blue eys glowed enough to almost put out light themselves, and the held a depth Rude had never seen before. Her hair was muted by the darkness to a deep auburn, and the tips of her spikes seemed to blazed into a fiery halo. Reno looked both incredibly young, and older than the earth itself in that moment.

The scene had Rude little awestruck. He'd never seen Reno look so alien, or so beautiful before. Or so fragile. There was a frailty to her right then, as if one word, one whisper of a touch, would shatter her completely. It left Rude speechless. 

The world narrowed down to that single moment. Rude never wanted to reach out and touch the woman in front of him so bad, but he was held in place by the force of the moment. Slowly, Reno turned to him again. And the moment dissolved as if it had never been when Reno furrowed her brow at him.

"Rude? Ya alright man? You're just standin' there..." Worry crossed her face.

Rude snapped out of the daze and blinked. He pushed his shades back up where they had slipped down a fraction of an inch, turning to glance out at the stars again, and then back to Reno.

"I'm fine." He said softly.

"Oh, good. Ya had me worried there for a sec, bud. Goin' all spacey on me." Reno chuckled, smiling again and looking back out at the sky. After a couple of seconds she sighed and pushed off the railing.

"I'm headed home. Long day, an' I'm tired." She smiled, crushing her already dead cigarette and raising her arms above her head in a stretch. She let one hand fall on Rude's shoulder as she turned to go. "Night Rude." And then she was walking away, tossing a wave over her shoulder before she disappeared back into the building.

Rude watched her go, waiting until she was out of sight before he glanced back to the night sky. The stars somehow didn't seem so bright anymore.

' _But you're wrong,_ ' He thought, ' _The stars aren't what was beautiful tonight._ ' And then Rude sighed, pushing away his thoughts and turned to follow after his partner, stifling a yawn and readjusting his sunglasses as he went.

 

_**  
**_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess I decided to post this in honor of May Day. Enjoy it. ;)


	8. Lonely

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rude has issues. Reno does too.

**Lonely**

 

Rude figured he was pretty damn pathetic right about now.

He was standing outside Reno's apartment door, debating whether or not to knock. He didn't remember this being his intended destination when he left ShinRa, in fact he had been intending to go home. To his empty apartment. Empty and rather bleak. His feet, however, had a different destination in mind. Well, it wasn't as if he hadn't been thinking about her constantly lately.

Rude shifted from one foot to the other, trying to make up his mind. Finally he put on his big-boy pants and rapped sharply on the door, pushing his shades up on his nose and stuffing his hands into his pockets.

A few seconds passed before a muffled curse filtered through the door and his favorite redhead peeked out, hair slightly rumpled and sticking out at odd angles. She looked a bit surprised to see him.

"Rude... What'cha want, yo?" She mumbled, stepping back and opening the door wider. She set a hand on her narrow hip and leaned on the door. She was still wearing her blue suit pants, but had discarded all but her white tank, exposing her pale arms and shoulders.

Rude's mind went blank for a moment. What had he been thinking? He didn't have a clue what he'd even ask if she opened the door. Feeling like an idiot Rude shrugged.

"Wanna grab something to eat?" He tried his best to look nonchalant. And failed miserably. Reno smirked at him.

"What, you that lonely, yo?" She joked. Rude inwardly winced at how close to the mark she hit. Like dead fucking center. Outwardly he just shrugged again and nodded in the direction of the stairs. Reno laughed, and the sound went straight through Rude. Right about then he realized how well and truly fucked he was.

"Sure," Reno smirked, flipping a few stray spikes out of her face. "Lemme go get dressed and we can go grab somethin' from the place down the way, yo." She turned, leaving her door wide open, and grabbed a shirt to throw over her tank. It ended up being a black dress shirt three sizes too big for her. It happened to be one Rude had left when he crashed with Reno one night after a too-long stake out. 'Meh,' He thought. 'Let her keep it.

Reno stepped out and locked the door behind her, heading for the stairs.

"To tell the truth, you came at the right time, yo. I was feeling a little lonely myself." She confided conspiratorially to him as they descended. Rude almost stopped short, jolted by his partners words, but he shook it off and followed after her. And if he snuck a peek at her ass as she walked, he'd never tell, though the smile on his face told far more than he knew.

 


	9. Crimson

**Crimson**

 

It was both a mark of femininity, and a proclamation to any and all who set eyes on her.

And the funny thing was that she had been born with it.

Reno's hair was splayed out across the pillow, out of it's ponytail for once.

But the woman who bore such striking hair was out cold.

Rude sat beside the bed, anxious and stressed about the fact that his partner had taken a bullet to the abdomen.

Not because she had to, but because she had stepped in front of it to shield _him_ from the shot.

He could just kill her for that. He was the bigger of the two, and he should have been the one to take that shot.

Instead he had buried a clip in the assailant's chest before scooping up the bleeding redhead and carting her tiny ass to the closest medic to be patched up enough to make the trip back to Midgar.

He was just lucky that the shooter had been marked for death anyway, or he would be facing down a super pissed Taking.

As it was, Tsung had congratulated him on a job well done, and sent him back to the med wing to take care of his injured partner.

Tsung had known that Rude was pretty useless right now.

Rude broke from his musings and looked back at the prone woman on the hospital gurney and sighed.

He knew he was in trouble. He shouldn't have been affectedthis strongly. But he was.

And it was the hair that made him realize just how fucked he really was.

Because the only thing he had been able to think as he carried Reno into the medic was that he needed her to be ok. He just couldn't live without seeing that red, red hair every day, or hearing that smart ass mouth shooting insults at the enemy as she did her job.

And not to long after, he realized that his favorite color was crimson. Had been for some time.

Dude's stomach knotted up then. He was totally stuck on this scrawny, smart ass, reckless girl. And there was no changing it now.


	10. Sweet Nothings

**Sweet Nothings**

 

Rude couldn't figure it out.

Reno had been acting strange for over a week now, and Rude could not, for the life of him, understand why the abrupt change in behavior.

It had started with her bringing him coffee. Granted, she sometimes did things like that, but usually it was a cheap, crappy cup of whatever she happened to grab.

But the cup that had been sitting on his desk that first day had been his favorite kind. And it was prepared just the way he liked his.

And the next day there was another cup, the same way.

And the trend had continued for the rest of the week.

And then he started noticing that Reno was watching him like a hawk. Her eyes rarely strayed from him for long.

It was making Rude nervous. He fully expected to get laxative in his coffee one morning. Or something else. But it didn't, and Rude wasn't going to waste a good cup of coffee.

And then he noticed that the redhead was making every excuse to be in close vacinity to him. And she never really seemed to stop touching him.

A hand on his arm, find gets brushing his, leg pressed into the side of his.

And she hadn't flirted or said made one dirty comment in days, which was completely unlike her. Reno flirted like breathing, and she had a dirty mouth that never shut up.

All this was sending up major red flags.

So he confronted her.

"Reno, what's with you?" He asked as he filled out paperwork from the last field mission. Reno was perched on his desk, lower leg brushing against him.

"What ya mean, yo?" She asked, not meeting his eyes.

"You're acting strange. I want to know why." The bald man stated.

"I'm not acting strange, yo." Reno dodged.

"The coffee? You haven't left me alone for more than an hour? And you keep touching me." He stated. Reno flushed and looked right at Rude, seemingly unable to explain. Then she dropped her eyes.

And just like that, he got it.

Reno had feelings for him.

Rude felt like a lead weight had dropped in the pit of his stomach.

Reno was interested in him, and so she didn't act like she usually did. She wasn't looking to get laid and move on. She had genuine interest in him. And she didn't know how to act.

Rude felt his face get hot and he stopped what he had been doing. Reno looked back up at him, knowing that he had figured it out. She looked a little panicked, eyes wide.

She started babbling something, but he couldn't hear her past the blood rushing in his ears. So instead he reached out and hooked a hand behind her head and pulled her down, crashing his lips into hers.

She kissed him back immediately.

When they broke apart, short of breath and pupils blown wide, Reno laughed.

"So, I don't have to have Tsung transfer me to a different partner?" She said in a breathy voice. Dude's reply was short and final.

"No." It came out as more of a growl. Reno smiled, wide and bright. Rude smiled back.

"So does this mean I finally get to ride you like a stallion?"

Rude wanted to slam his head into the desk.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: 
> 
> Had A LOT of help from Self-San, in the form of Beta, and moral support for poor Rude, as well as some AWESOME suggestions. There are even some DIRECT quotes from her, because sometimes things couldn't be said better. No matter how hard ya try. SHOUTOUT to Self! THANKS SELF!!! *Huggles Self-san until she turns B~L~U~U~U~U~E and wiggles like an excited puppy* 
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading! R&R if you feel like. Reviews are appreciated, and they encourage me to post more stuff. ;)


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